Moving Forward
by Julian Amici
Summary: Katara fumed, stomping her foot on the ground. "I don't know why I thought living with Aang would be any easier after we got together, but he just gets on my nerves so much!" Zuko walked a little closer to the dark-skinned girl, nodding solemnly. -Review-
1. The End of War

**Moving Forward**

By: Julian Amici

Notes: This follows mainly cannon pairings, such as Kataang and Maiko (sorry Zutarans), as well as Sukka, with a few new ones thrown in. After all, Toph and Foamy need lovin' too (no, it's not Tophoamy). Don't forget to review. I like to know what you all think. I really do.

**Chapter 1: The End of War**

Aang and Zuko stared at each other for what seemed like an hour, sizing each other up and comparing their respective auras, visualizing the battle before it began. The two fancied themselves honest with themselves, but neither could see the other one winning, no matter how many scenarios they played. They wryly smiled at each other. "I hope you're ready to lose, Zuko."

"You took the words right out of my mouth." Zuko smirked, and launched himself at the young air bender, extending out his fist in a vicious strike. It would have been amusing how far away the strike landed from Aang if white flames hadn't burst forward, causing the air bender to jump to the side. He quickly twisted around, extending his arms out, throwing an almost visible wave of air at the new Fire Lord. Zuko dropped to the ground, slamming his chest against the stone just missing the wind, and loosed a quick bolt of fire from his mouth. The young monk slammed his foot on the ground, brining a slab of stone up in front of him, blocking the fire completely. The two stayed in those positions for a moment, then began to laugh. "Man, you had me worried for a second. I thought you were gonna go all out." Aang lowered the stone wall back into the earth.

"I was going all out. You've just gotten really good." Zuko got onto his feet and began to walk toward his once-enemy. "You know, you don't have to hold back on me, though."

"I wasn't holding back. I'd definitely lose if I didn't give it my all with you." The two smiled at each other. Zuko placed his hand on Aang's shoulder.

"So, do you think they'll start making out now?" Mai asked from the doorway, a smirk on her lips. The two swung around to face the voice, and saw Mai and Katara standing there, Mai taking a bite out of an apple, and Katara trying to suppress a giggle.

"I don't know, but it could be pretty hot." Katara blushed a little as Mai took another bite out of her apple.

Aang and Zuko looked at each other, then turned away in a bit of disgust. "Girls…" Zuko muttered.

Aang shook out of his state and ran toward the water bender. "Hey, Katara, how did the meeting go?"

She looked solemnly at him as Zuko edged closer, both he and Mai interested. "Well enough I suppose. Ozai, still being as evil as we remember, hasn't regained any of his bending ability. Whatever you did, it seems to be permanent."

Zuko and Mai let out the breath they didn't know they were holding. Aang simply shook his head. "I'm just glad I could defeat him without bloodshed. What about the rest of the fire nation troops?"

Zuko felt it was his turn to speak up. "Sokka's still searching the area, but even with the damage to the fleet, there have been a surprising amount of survivors so far."

Now it was Aang's turn to breathe a sigh of relief. "Good. The less people lost to that war, the better." He tentatively put an arm around Katara's waist, glad she didn't stop his public display of affection. "What about Azula? Is she still…"

"Crazy?" Mai spoke up. "Yeah. She keeps ranting about how everyone betrayed her, which is true, in a way, and how she's destined for blah blah blah. She takes snippy pot shots at me, but she's not anywhere as lucid as she was." She brought her hand to her face and pinched the bridge of her nose. "She seems to be losing a lot of control over her bending as well. We've had to keep her in a cooler to keep her from hurting herself or anyone else."

"As much as I hate her," Katara started, "I don't think anyone deserves that. I do kind of wish we could help her."

Zuko nodded hesitantly. "One thing at a time, though. Let's get this country back in order. My father's followers still have a lot of power in the national council, and many of them wish for this war to continue, saying it's the Fire Nation's right to rule."

"That's ridiculous." Katara snapped. Zuko looked a bit taken aback. "Oh, sorry Zuko, I didn't mean to yell at you. But I can't believe them, wanting to continue this war. Hasn't it cost enough already?"

Zuko nodded. "Well, it does seem that, while my father had many followers, the majority of the council seems to be as glad to be rid of this war as we are." The older bender sighed. "I just hope no one tries to do something drastic."

A look of confusion overcame Aang's features. "Like what?"

Mai gently shook her head and took Zuko's hand in her own. "Those loyal to Ozai were appointed to the council because of their ruthlessness by the old Fire Lord himself. I wouldn't put it past them to hire an assassin or something like it."

The air bender's eyes trailed over to Mai. "Is that why you asked me to stay for a little while longer?"

Mai simply nodded. Zuko looked back and forth between the two of them, incredulity etched on his face. "What?" he yelled out, his gaze finally resting on Mai. "You don't think I can take care of myself?"

"Calm down." Mai commanded in her usual bored tone. "You don't have eyes in the back of your head, I just wanted Aang around for a little extra protection. It's not like I asked him to be your personal bodyguard or anything."

Toph seemed to pick the best times to walk in on conversations, she mused, as she walked right into the training area. "Aw, come on Sparky, you should feel honored to have the Avatar being your personal protector. After all, did I hear a little while ago that you two were gonna make out? You could even share a room! It'd be SO romantic!"

"Ugh, that's so disgusting, Toph!" Zuko started to rub his temple. "Thanks for putting THAT image in my head!"

Aang shook his head vigorously and slapped his cheeks. "Thanks Toph, I'll probably have nightmares for weeks because of that."

Mai and Katara giggled at the reactions of their respective boyfriends. Toph's smile widened. "Well it looks like Mai and Katara'll be having dreams too, if the way their heartbeats jumped is a sign…"

Zuko and Aang looked at the blushes starting to form on the girl's faces. "Girls…" Aang muttered, copying Zuko directly.

Toph let out a loud laugh before regaining a bit of composure. "Anyway, the reason I'm here is because there's something going on in the council chambers. I don't know what it is, but aren't they supposed to be empty if you're not having a meeting, Oh Venerable Fire Lord?" She tacked on the last bit with a large embellished bow and amused sarcastic tone.

Zuko, on the other hand, didn't look amused at all. "Yes, they are supposed to be empty. There's no reason for anyone to be in there now." He immediately turned toward the exit from the training grounds and started a brisk walk toward the council chambers.

Aang, Katara, Mai, and Toph followed after him. "Hey, wait up! What's going on?" the young air bender asked.

Zuko didn't even look back, keeping up his hurried walk. "Council meetings are presided over by the Fire Lord in all cases, and I've been encountering more and more interference from pro-war Ozai loyalists. Something's going on." It didn't take long for the group to reach the council chambers. Zuko pushed them open with such force that the echo created through the palace as they slammed against the frame lasted for a few seconds. "What is going on here?!?"

The three older men looked surprised as they stared wide-eyed at the angry fire lord. "My lord, what an unexpected surprise it is to see you here." The tallest and oldest of the three said as he nervously brushed a strand of hair out of his face.

"I could say the same." The fire in Zuko's eyes was unmistakable. "The council chambers aren't exactly supposed to be used without me."

Two of the older men's eyes darted back and forth as they searched for an explanation, but then the youngest of the group, a mere few years older than Zuko himself, stepped forward. "My apologies, Fire Lord, this was my doing. I required the assistance of men with experience in certain matters. Certain marital matters."

Zuko looked at the young man, and recognized him as Luso, a young councilman who was on of his most aggressive supporters. "What's going on? Tell me."

Luso looked down, and his long hair fell in front of his boyish face. "I believe my new wife is unhappy, and Lord Seto and Lord Ibiri have been married for a long time. I just wanted someplace neutral to meet. Please forgive me." He quickly bowed down to Zuko. "I did not mean to intrude."

Zuko looked to the two older men, knowing them to be opponents to his policies, but shook his head. "Very well. As long as that's all you were discussing. Just let me know if you're going to be using the chambers next time."

"As you wish, Fire Lord." With that, the three turned and began walking down the hallway, Luso speaking on their way down. "See, that's why I like him better than Ozai." They turned a corner and were gone.

Zuko sighed heavily. Mai looked over to Toph. "Were they lying?" she asked.

Toph just shrugged. "I dunno. Wood floors, remember?" The group looked down to see the dark, polished wood. "It does sound kind of fishy though. They could have had a conversation like that anywhere. Why did they need to have it here?"

"I don't know," Zuko started, "but Luso is one of my most vocal supporters, so I'm more willing to trust his word. Why he was talking with Seto and Ibiri, though…"

Katara walked up to the gloomy Fire Lord and threw an arm over his shoulders. "Hey, it was probably exactly what he said. He seems like a nice guy, and what man doesn't want to make his wife happy?"

Aang and Toph both laughed, but Zuko looked to the floor. "My father." That statement sobered the whole group.

"Well, look at it this way, very few other people are going to be like him." Aang looked back up to the Fire bender. "I mean look at you. You're his son, and you're nothing like him."

Zuko looked into the Avatar's eyes before Mai caressed his chin, bringing his face to hers. "Exactly. You're the greatest man in the world." She leaned in and placed a kiss tenderly on his lips. "Ozai only thought he was."

"So, how about dinner? I'm starving!"

Zuko smiled, grateful for Toph's change of topic. "Let's get to the dining hall and get things started."

They all headed for the hall, gathering around the large table which had already began to be populated with all manners of traditional fire nation dishes, including a whole selection of salads for Aang. Toph sat over by Katara, which was quite unusual for her. She usually sat next to Aang. Zuko started to eat, starting up pleasant dinner conversation with everyone as well, in which everyone but Toph joined in. Katara looked over to her, and noticed that despite her earlier proclamation, she had barely touched her food. She leaned in closer to the young Earth bender, who had just turned thirteen. "Hey, Toph, is everything alright? You're barely touching your komodo chicken."

Toph seemed to snap out of a reverie and looked up to Katara, her eyes not quite centering on her, and pasted an obviously fake smile on her face. "What? Yeah, of course everything's okay. I guess I wasn't as hungry as I thought, that's all."

Katara put a knowing look on her face, then remembered that Toph couldn't see. She stood up and took Toph's arm, standing her up too. Quickly bowing to the head of the table, she turned around to leave. "Toph and I need a little 'girl time'. We'll be back later."

Aang quickly got to his feet, a gust of air helping him. "Do you want me to come with?"

Katara looked at Aang and a smile appeared on her face. "'Girl' time, Aang. Avatar doesn't trump Girl."

Zuko actually let out a laugh at that statement. "Well, if you need us, we'll be here."

Katara bowed again to Zuko and left the hall, Toph in tow. She quickly led the blind girl to a small garden just outside and sat her down on a bench. "Okay Toph, spill. Something's on your mind."

"It's nothing, I swear, I just wasn't that hungry, that's all." Her tone was softer than normal.

"I know you better than that." The older water bender put an arm around the young girl. "It must be really bad if you can't even say it. You're the one who doesn't ever have a problem speaking her mind. So come on, it's not like I'll judge you. You could even say you're jealous of me being with Aang and I wouldn't be upset. Please, Toph, tell me."

Toph looked to the ground. "I am jealous." Katara reeled back a bit from the news, and the earth bender felt it. "Well, kind of. I'm jealous of what you have. You and Aang love each other so much, and I can feel the love between Zuko and Mai. And then there's Sokka and Suki. But I don't have anyone. No one loves the poor little blind girl, the tomboy earth bender. And before you say it…" Katara closed her open mouth. "I know you all love me, but you know that's not what I'm talking about. I may not seem it, but I do think about those things. And I know that despite how many times you've told me that I'm pretty, I'm not. I don't have to care about appearances, but I know every one else does."

"Toph, you are pretty. And you will find someone, it's just…"

"It's just what, Katara?" she yelled out, standing up. "It's just not the right time? It's just that I'm too much like a guy? It's just that I'm unlucky? Are you going to say that I have to be patient? Well I'm tired of being patient! My parents never loved me, and now it's pretty clear that no man ever will!"

Tears fell freely from Toph's eyes now, and Katara stood up, embracing the girl tightly. "That's not what I was going to say. I was going to say 'It's just that the six of us have a history.' We've worked long and hard at these relationships. We've fallen down, we've stumbled, Zuko even threw away what he had for a long time. He was lucky to get Mai back. It wasn't easy for us either. So believe me when I say that I know what you're going through." She began to rub Toph's back when she began to cry. "I do believe it will happen for you, I do believe you will find someone who will love you. And I believe you're wrong. I know you're beautiful. And since I'm the one here who can see, I think I'm the expert on the matter."

Toph laughed into Katara's tunic despite herself. She brought her hands up and pushed the older girl away. "Thanks Sugar Queen. Even though I still don't think you're right, it's nice to know that there are people on my side. I just want to stop thinking about this and go back to what I do best."

"Throwing big rocks at people?"

The two laughed a bit, Toph wiping her eyes. "No, being the wild, happy, crazy, powerful bender you all know." The smile on her face faded. "It's just whenever I'm around you and Aang, or Zuko and Mai, or anyone else really, I feel left out. And then there are the nightmares."

"Nightmares?"

"Yeah." Toph took the step back to the stone bench and sat back down. "I've been having pretty vivid dreams about, well, being alone."

Katara sat back down as well. "Being alone?"

"Well, um…" she paused. "Dying alone."

Katara was taken aback. "Toph, you're not going to die. And you're certainly not going to be alone."

"I know you think that, but every time I try to convince myself that it's not true, the nightmares just get more powerful."

Katara simply leaned over and held her. "Oh, Toph…"

Toph lifted her foot and slammed it on the ground. At the same time, Aang leapt out from behind a bush, almost getting hit with a stone pillar jutting out for the ground. "Nice dodge, Twinkletoes."

Aang floated to the ground, knowing that Toph knew how long he was there. "Katara's right, we are all here for you. And she's also right, you are very beautiful."

The young earth bender blushed a bit. "Thanks. I know you don't mean that, but thanks."

"You can tell when people are lying, Toph. So then you would have been able to sense that I was lying. And I wasn't." Aang walked over and sat on the other side of Toph, putting his arm around her shoulders.

Toph let out a laugh. "Well, now I understand why you all got so bent out of shape when you saw that play about us. Being a big buff guy isn't exactly what every girl wants." She let another laugh escape her lips. "Not exactly what every guy wants either."

Katara and Aang joined in the laughter. "Well, I can definitely say you're the cutest big buff guy I've ever seen!" Katara laughed out, wiping a tear from her eye.

Aang hopped up, turning to face the two most important women in his life. "So, are you two ready to rejoin dinner?"

Toph simply nodded and stood up. Katara stood up and placed her lips on the young air bender's forehead. "Yeah. I'm still pretty hungry."


	2. The Healer

**Chapter 2: The Healer**

Aang sat at the table with Zuko, several dishes in front of them. Each plate was covered with different foods from different nations. While he avoided the stewed sea prunes like the plague, Aang sampled all the earth nation dishes eagerly. They were all vegetarian dishes, so he had no reservations. "You should try this stone salad, it's great!"

Zuko looked up, disgust showing on his features. "Ugh, Aang, swallow before you start talking! You spit food all over me!" He wiped the small amounts of green off his clothes. "And I'm sure it's delicious. I'm just not hungry. This meeting is nerve-racking. And I'm not even in it yet!"

Aang swallowed the food in his mouth and smiled. "Oh, come on. Everyone knows you're not your father. Or your grandfather, or anyone else like that. The Earth kingdom and Water tribe diplomats'll be willing to talk about peace with you." He took another bite of the 'stone salad.' "Especially if this is on the table. Besides, you have the Avatar with you, what could go wrong?"

Zuko turned to the young boy, ready to lash out, but then saw the smile on his face. "Yeah, you're probably right. I just don't think that the other countries are as ready to forgive the Fire nation as quickly as you have."

"You're planning on returning all the annexed land, right?" Aang loosened his collar a bit. "That should be the biggest issue." He shook his head and wiped some sweat from his brow.

Katara walked into the dining hall. "Hey, how's the food?"

"Aang apparently thinks it'll assure peace between the nations." Zuko looked over a number of sheet of parchment filled with details about the peace talks. "Hopefully it'll be just that simple."

"The food is really good. It's a good place to start. After all, the fastest way to someone's heart is through their stomach. Isn't that right, Katara?"

Katara gasped as Aang turned to face her, causing Zuko to look up from his paperwork. "Aang, what's wrong with you? You're completely flushed, and are you sweating too?" She ran over and placed her hand on his forehead. "You're burning up!"

"Well, it is pretty hot in here…" Aang started as he began to stand up. "Maybe I should cool off in… the…" his voice dropped off as his eyes rolled back and his vision failed.

Katara caught the young Air bender before he hit the floor. "What's wrong? It's not that hot in here!" She looked up to Zuko. "What's going on?"

Zuko's eyes betrayed his confusion. "I don't know! He looked fine just a second ago! The only thing that could affect him this quickly is…" Realization overcame the Fire Lord's features as he looked at the food on the table, horrified. "Dragon's Breath."

"What?" Katara continued to cradle her boyfriend, confusion etched on her face. "What's Dragon's Breath?"

Zuko quickly got up and rushed over to Aang, taking him from Katara's arms and throwing him over his shoulder. "Poison. Very quick and very deadly. We need to get him to a healer, now." With that, Zuko began to run out the door.

Katara was quick on his heels, her expression turned to anger. "Aang's been poisoned? Why? Why can't the healers in the palace help him?"

"Because the palace healers can't treat Dragon's Breath. My father made sure of that." The two burst out of the room, running down the corridor toward the courtyard, which had been transformed into a landing pad and stable for Appa. "He built up an immunity to the stuff so if he ever wanted to poison anyone, the chefs could poison all the food, and he'd be fine."

Katara followed as close behind Zuko as she could, opening her waterskin and raising her hand to Aang's back to heal him. "Where are you taking him? How long will it take? Will there be time to get there? Shouldn't I do something?" Her words came out in a ramble, the desperation in her voice drowning out anything else.

"There's a family of healers on the edge of the city. It won't take long to get there on Appa. Pai Li Shu is one of the best healers in the fire nation, and an old friend of my uncle." Zuko ran up to Appa and jumped onto his side, climbing as quickly up his fur as he could while still carrying Aang. "He's the closest person I know of that knows how to treat the poison."

Katara climbed up into Appa's saddle, sitting right next to where Zuko laid the unconscious monk down and lay her water-covered hands onto his chest. She could feel the damage the poison was doing to his heart. "Hurry, Zuko, please!"

Zuko didn't even pause after laying Aang down, jumping right onto the bison's head and grabbing the reigns. "Yip yip!" Appa took off immediately, sensing something wrong with his life-long friend, and followed Zuko's directions to the east. The Fire Lord looked back to Katara and Aang after a minute to make sure nothing had happened, but tried to keep his eyes on the sky in front of him. The flight lasted for only five minutes, but it seemed much longer, when Zuko pushed down on Appa's head, signaling for a descent. "We're here. Pai should be inside."

The two jumped off the large animal and raced toward the house, Aang in Katara's arms. Zuko threw the door open and ran inside, Katara right behind him. The two saw a boy about their age tending to an old man's wounds, wearing loose fitting dark blue and black clothes an had his black hair tied back into a long pony tail. "Zuko?" the boy asked, his deep blue eyes wide with surprise. Realization came over his features an instant later, and he fell to one knee. "I mean… Firelord, what can I do…"

"Where's Pai?" Zuko interrupted. "We need his expertise."

The boy looked up to Zuko, then shook his head. "My father died in the war."

"What about your grandfather? Where is he?" The desperation in his voice was evident.

The boy stood up, looking Zuko in the eyes. "Heart failure, last year. I'm running the clinic now."

Zuko looked back to Aang, then back to the boy. "Can you treat Dragon's Breath?"

The boy looked to Aang himself, then back to Zuko. "It looks pretty far progressed. I think so. Bring him in back. I'll be there in a second."

Katara and Zuko brought Aang into the room just behind the boy. While the first room had a number of cots and spools of cloth, this room was much smaller with a single stone table, jars filled with herbs and liquids lining the walls, and a large basin of water running along the back wall on the floor. The water bender looked to the Fire Lord. "Do you think he'll be able to do it?"

"I hope so." Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose as Katara lay Aang onto the stone. "This family is very skilled. I just don't know if Fei has the knowledge we need."

The boy, Fei, rushed into the room, closing the door behind him. "How long ago was he exposed, and how much did he eat?"

"About 10 minutes since we noticed, and I don't know how much he ate. A lot, I think. It was peppering the food we were sampling. Aang ate quite a bit."

Katara paced back and forth as Fei put his hand against Aang's forehead. "The fever is too high, we need to get as much poison out of his system as we can." He looked up to Zuko nervously. "Can I ask you two to wait outside?"

"We're not leaving him." Katara's eyes locked onto Fie, tears brimming in them. "I can help too. I'm a waterbender. I don't know a lot about healing, but if there's anything I can do, let me know."

Fei's eyes widened in surprise. "You're a waterbender? Does that mean that other types of benders are allowed in the country now?"

Zuko simply nodded. "I'm not my father. I don't care what kind of bending a person has, or what nation they come from. Everyone's equal here. Now can you help Aang or not?"

Fei nodded back and took a stance that Katara found painfully familiar. With a flick of Fei's wrist, the water in the basin leapt into the air and circled around the three's heads in one large ring. Fei's arms moved with the airborne wave, guiding the water around them. "Sorry I didn't do this before, but I couldn't risk getting caught if you were going to banish me. I didn't exactly get to know you very well before you were banished, Fire Lord."

Zuko and Katara simply looked at the healer, astonished. "What? But how? You're fire nation, aren't you?" Katara asked. "Why can you water bend?"

Fei leaned over Aang and opened his mouth. "Sorry, man, this is not gonna be pleasant." One of his arms moved up, then down in a shallow oval, and the water circling their heads broke off and flew down into Aang's mouth. The young airbender's body started to convulse with the pressure of the water moving through him. Fei's arms swirled over Aang's stomach along with the convulsions."

Katara looked at the display with horror. "Stop it! You're hurting him!"

Fei sharply brought his hands up, and the water flew out of the young monk's mouth, now holding paterns of sickly green, red, and black fluids in it. He moved his hands to the side, and the impurities flew from the water out the single open window. "I needed to remove as much of the poison from his stomach as I could. It's not a pleasant process, but it needed to be done." Fei flicked both his wrists down, and two small spurts of water whipped down, cutting open Aang's thigh and arm. He then moved his arms in a pattern that could only be described as kneading dough. The water came down in a single thin stream and entered Aang's body through the thigh. Sweat began to form on Fei's brow and he continued to knead the invisible dough. "You're a waterbender, right? I could use a little help here."

Katara, still frustrated, saw what Fei was doing, and mirrored his movements. "You didn't answer my question."

A small stream of red water started to flow up from the cut in Aang's arm. "My one of my ancestors was Avatar Kourik. Every once in a while, a waterbender crops up in my family." The stream of water flowed back into the large ring around their heads. "If you're a waterbender too, then why weren't you doing this? This is pretty basic healing."

A slightly angry blush formed on Katara's face. "If you must know, I only spent about 3 days learning how to heal."

"Is Aang getting better?" Zuko paced around the room, being unable to do anything else.

"Probably." Fei's arms and eyes didn't move from the task at hand. "Get me the fern amber and the jade root."

Zuko walked over to the jars and looked them over. "Which ones? None of them are labeled!"

"The blue root and the purple liquid. Hurry." Fei sighed as Zuko brought the jars to the stone table. "You," he looked up to Katara. "Keep doing this." He dropped his arms and brought up a mortal and pestle. Placing a couple sprigs of the root into the stone bowl, he started to crush them.

Zuko walked up to Katara, took out a cloth, and wiped the sweat that was forming on her brow. "Are you doing okay?"

The girl nodded. "I just can't believe this happened. Aang should know to be more careful. He knows there are still dangerous people in the Fire Nation, and he just goes on without a care in the world. It's just so frustrating!"

The water above them wavered for a second with Katara's outburst. She quickly focused again. "It's okay, Katara. Aang's always been like that. I don't think he would have made nearly as good of an Avatar if he wasn't as innocent as he is."

Her eyes lowered. "You're probably right. It's just…" She paused, her arms visibly getting tired. "Nothing."

Fei brushed a strand of hair out of his face and poured some of the purple liquid into the bowl, mixed the two together, and poured the concoction into Aang's mouth. He brought his palm up, then quickly pushed it down, bending the liquid down Aang's throat. He looked over to the water coming out of Aang's arm, which was now clear. "Okay, we got all the poison out of his system."

Katara moved the water away from the four of them and let it fall to the ground. She let out a sigh of relief.

Fei brought a bit more water up and surrounded his hands with it. He placed his hands on Aang's chest, and the water began to glow. He concentrated for a second. "It looks like the poison didn't have a chance to damage his heart too much. But his stomach took quite a pounding. Both will heal with treatment, though. Your friend should be fine. I'd like to keep him under observation for an hour or two though."

Zuko nodded, relief etched on his face. "That's fine. Now I have to go and find out why this happened in the first place. There's really only one person who would try something like this. I need to go see her."

A knowing look came over Fei's features, and his eyes fell. "How is she doing?"

Zuko shook his head. "Not well. We're trying, but nothing seems to take. I'm sorry."

Katara looked back and forth between the two young men, her confusion evident. "What are you two talking about?"

Zuko shook his head. "Can you take Aang back to the palace after you're done with him? I need to bring Katara with me."

Fei nodded slowly. "Do you want me to inform the guards about what happened? They should still remember me."

Zuko nodded as well. "Yeah. And the food in the dining hall is what was poisoned. You may want to check that out too."

"Will do." Zuko took Katara's arm and started to lead her out of the clinic when Fei's voice rang out behind them. "Oh, and Zuko…" The two stopped, the Fire Lord turning around. "If you can, tell her I miss her."

Zuko simply nodded, and lead Katara out. Once they were on Appa, the questions began. "What was that all about? Why did he know you? Who were you guys talking about?" Katara was asking more slowly, but still didn't let much in the way of pauses infect her speech.

Zuko simply raised his hand, signaling Katara to stop. He grabbed Appa's reigns. "Yip yip!" The bison launched into the air, and Zuko steered him to the west, toward the Boiling Rock. He then turned around and faced the waterbending girl. "Okay. I know Fei because he used to date my sister."

Surprise and horror formed on Katara's face at the same time. "What? What happened?"

"I don't know all the details. I was banished shortly after the two got together. But Mai tells me they were dating for a couple years, and Fei was planning on asking Azula to marry him."

Katara regained her composure and nodded. "What happened?"

"I don't really know, and from what Mai tells me, neither does anyone else. Azula just broke up with him. No one knows why. He seemed to take her in stride, and from what I saw, he was really good for her. If they hadn't broken up, maybe she wouldn't have needed to be imprisoned. I don't know. What I do know is that Mai couldn't get a straight answer out of Azula about why she broke up with him. It really tore Fei apart though. They broke up a year ago, and you see what even mentioning her at all does to him."

Katara nodded. "Yeah. He looked like he was ready to cry. They've been broken up for a year?"

Zoku nodded. "Yeah. Really anything more than that, you'll have to ask Fei. Or Azula."

Katara nodded and sat back in the saddle. "Wait, what if Fei was the one who poisoned Aang?"

Zuko shook his head. "He looked really surprised to see me, and one thing I learned about Fei is that unlike my sister, he's a terrible liar. He doesn't have it in him to kill anyone."

Katara looked skeptical, but quickly conceded, knowing that if Zuko trusted him, she should too. The two remained quiet for a little while, watching the scenery pass, until Zuko broke the silence. "So, what was the deal in the clinic? Talking about 'Aang should know better' and such."

Katara's expression soured, and she looked away from the Fire Lord. "No, it's just that… Aang can just be really frustrating sometimes. He always acts like a little kid, not like I always imagined an Avatar would act like. I like to play around with him, but I wish he would take things more seriously. Not everything can be penguin-sledding or ostrich-horse racing. I mean, he barely took the fight with Fire Lord Ozai seriously, and now that that's over, it's like he's gone back to being a little kid all the time!"

Zuko listened to the onslaught intently. "Katara, I think it's because he feels like he _can_ be a little kid around you. He feels comfortable with you. But if this really bothers you so much, why don't you tell him about it. After all, he can't know anything's wrong if you don't tell him."

Katara shook her head. "I don't know. I want to be able to handle it too. I can't put it all on Aang. It just gets so hard." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "How long until we get to Azula?"

Zuko turned around, catching the hint that she didn't want to talk about it any more. "A couple more hours. Maybe you should get some rest. You've been under a lot of stress lately."

Katara smirked. "Wow. It must be bad if the Fire Lord is telling me to rest up."

Zuko couldn't help but crack a smile, and the two let out soft giggles.


	3. Escaping the Flames

**Chapter 3: Escaping the Flames**

Appa landed in the empty courtyard of the Boiling Rock. A couple of guards walked up, the warden in tow. All three kneeled as Zuko and Katara jumped off the bison. "Lord Zuko, an honor to have you in my humble prison."

"Hey warden. You're still not used to me being Fire Lord, are you?"

Mai's uncle looked up, the wry smile he normally had on his mouth after their common greeting absent. "I'm glad you and my niece are happy together again, but we have more pressing matters. I assume you're here to see the princess?"

"Yes. Is she lucid? Can we talk to her?" Zuko looked at the nervous expressions on the guards. The warden, however, kept his eyes on the Fire Lord, his expression even more dour than it normally was. "Oh, she's lucid alright, far more lucid than any of us gave her credit for. It's probably how she escaped yesterday. We sent a messenger hawk as soon as we found out. I guess you never got it."

The horrified looks on Zuko's and Katara's faces said everything. "But… she could be anywhere!" Katara inched closer to Zuko and grabbed his arm. "What are we going to do?"

"Our men are out scouring the neighboring islands for any trace of her, but after what she did to several of my best guards, they're understandably nervous about encountering her again." The warden turned around to look at the back wall of the prison, the gaping hole in the iron still there, scorched and twisted. "Two of my guards are dead, another won't ever gain use of his hand again."

Zuko walked around the older man to look him in the eye. "How did she escape? You kept her in the cooler to prevent her from fire bending, didn't you?"

He simply nodded. "I guess we just underestimated how powerful she really is. She broke out of the cooler like it was make of rice paper. Then she escaped by riding the gondola wire, pushing herself along with a jet of flame. I've never seen anything like it."

"Take me to that soldier with the bad hand." Katara ordered. "Maybe I can help."

One of the guards gestured to a side door, and lead the group inside to the infirmary. There were a couple of prisoners and a guard, his right hand bandaged heavily. The guard stood up quickly and kneeled to the warden and the Fire Lord. "Sir, my Lord. It is an honor to be graced with your presence."

"My sister did this to you?" Zuko asked, his face twisted into a scowl.

The guard nodded as Katara approached him. She began to unwrap the bandages. "Yes, my Lord. I was coming up from behind her to restrain her, but she must have heard me. She shot my spear out of my hand. The lightning nearly took my hand off too. But I was lucky. Shen and Lara weren't."

"Tell me what happened." Zuko ordered sharply. The guard would have been afraid of him if his eyes were angry rather than nervous.

"Yesterday, I was on patrol along the western wall, near the gondola paddock. An explosion rang out from the south, so I ran over to check it out. There she was, like out of a nightmare, all lightning and blue flame. Shen rushed her. I suppose he's a bit lucky, he didn't last even a second. Lara started to run away, but got hit in the leg with fire before…" the guard paused, the memory obviously painful to him. Zuko waited patiently while Katara healed his hand. "The Princess had a piece of jagged iron from the cooler. She… she slid it along poor Lara's throat. I… I yelled out for the alarm, but she was up the wall and running toward the paddock faster than I though possible." Tears ran down the guard's face. "I tried to sneak up behind her, but she just turned around and did… this. She grabbed my manacles, jumped up, latched onto the wire, and launched herself along it. The warden ordered the wire cut, so we did, but as she fell, she used those jets of flame to reach the outer volcano wall. I don't know how she did it. None of the other prisoners are _that_ vicious."

Katara's eyes showed the sadness she felt about this guard. The water surrounding their hands wavered a bit, forcing her concentration on what she was doing. "It seems like the damage isn't as bad as it looked. You should get use of your hand back in a couple of weeks."

"In the mean time, we should probably get back to the palace and organize a formal search. I don't want just a couple of prison guards looking for her." Zuko moved to turn around, but hesitated. He looked back to the guard. "I'm sorry about what happened." His eyes moved to Katara. "Come on, let's go. Aang should be back by now."

Katara nodded and bended her water back into her water skins. She looked back to the guard. "Just take it easy for a little while. A couple of weeks and you should be fine." With that, the two left the room, intent on returning to the palace.

* * * * *

Appa landed in the courtyard, Katara and Zuko quickly jumping off and running into the palace. As soon as Zuko saw one of his servants, who's name escaped him, he grabbed the man by the shoulders. "Get War Minister Qin immediately. This is an emergency, I want him here in five minutes."

The man backed up, worry etched on his face. "As you wish, my lord." He then ran off to fulfill the Fire Lord's command.

"Do you think we can find her?" Katara followed quickly behind as Zuko began to head toward the lounge area.

"We'd better. I don't want to know what kind of damage she can do." Zuko turned around the corner into the lounge, Katara close behind. "Aang!"

Aang raised his hand in a greeting, but kept laying on the stuffed sofa. "Hey. I'd get up, but that nice healer told me I need to take it easy."

"Aang!" Katara ran over and jumped on the air bender. She squeezed him tightly, rubbing her cheek against his. "I'm glad you're okay."

Aang returned the hug, giving Katara a light kiss on the cheek. "Yeah. That healer told me he couldn't have done a thing without you. Thanks."

Katara sat up a bit and looked Aang in the eyes. Her features suddenly turned stern. "Aang, how could you be so careless? You know there are people who want us out of the way! Why did you just let yourself get poisoned?"

Aang let out an exasperated sigh. "How was I supposed to know someone would try something inside the fire palace? Zuko trusted the people in here, so I figured I could too!"

Katara got off the sofa, looking down at the Avatar. "So you're saying this is all Zuko's fault, is that it?"

"No!" Aang grabbed at his non-existent hair. "I'm not saying that. But I can't be completely prepared for every little thing that could be a threat! I just wish you'd understand that, and try to help me rather than criticizing everything I do!"

"Oh, I'm sorry that I'm actually taking this seriously! Getting poisoned isn't just some 'little thing' Aang! You could have died!" Katara threw her arms up and turned her back to Aang. "But all you want to do is have fun, don't you? You don't want to take anything seriously at all!"

"Oh, I'm _so_ sorry Zuko and I were just goofing off trying to prepare for the summit! I didn't know that trying to ensure peace was such a game!" Aang stood up quickly, and started to stomp out of the room, when he quickly stopped and clutched at his chest. Moaning, he fell to the floor.

Zuko was quickly at his side. "What's wrong, Aang?"

Katara turned around and quickly rushed to his side as well. Aang looked up at the two. He shook his head. "I'm okay. Really."

"Fei told you to take it easy, Aang!" The look of concern that flashed on Katara's face turned back into anger. "You shouldn't be moving around that much!"

Anger appeared on Aang's face as he looked up to Katara. "Well, maybe if you hadn't just started yelling at me, I wouldn't need to get worked up!"

"So you're saying this is my fault?" Katara stood up straight, her fists clenched.

Zuko had had enough. Anger and annoyance on his features, he grabbed the both of them by the shoulders roughly and pushed them apart. "Ugh, that's enough you too! We have more important things to worry about!"

"I'll say. You two fighting again? You wouldn't believe how annoying that gets." Sokka walked into the room, his pack on his shoulder. "It was almost more relaxing being in the Earth Kingdom country scrounging through burned out ships. At least I didn't have to listen to you guys any more."

Katara looked to her brother, all anger forgotten. "Sokka!" she yelled out as she jumped into her brother's arms. "I'm so glad you're back."

"I'm glad to be back, mostly. And guess what I found!" A grin on his face, he reached into his pack and pulled out a familiar blade of black metal. "I found my space sword! I missed you so much!" He pressed the flat of the blade to his lips as Suki walked in, Momo riding on her shoulder.

"I'm glad you're all here. Where's Toph?" Zuko asked, his voice as serious as ever. "We have something we need to discuss with everyone."

"We didn't see her on our way in." Suki explained. "She might be out back."

"I didn't see her either." Aang stood up and walked back over to the sofa he was laying on before. "Though, I really wasn't in a position to see much, either on an ostrich-horse cart or on that guy's back."

"Katara, could you go find her, we need to start as soon as the War Minister gets here, and you already have all the information. You can fill Toph in while we go over it ourselves."

Katara nodded. "That's a good idea."

The group started to hear voices coming from down the hall. It didn't take long for Toph to turn the corner with a much older man in formal Fire Army armor and a graying beard and enter the lounge. "And that's what Iroh said about making great Jasmine tea." Top smiled as she finished her anecdote. "Heya Sparky. You sent for this guy?"

"I did. Please, come in, Qin." Zuko bowed his head to the older man.

"An honor, Fire Lord." Qin bowed low in respect. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"My sister has escaped from the Boiling Rock." Zuko took small notice of the gasps that came from around the room. He simply wanted to get to the point. "I want you to mobilize your scout units and find her."

Qin bowed again. "As you wish, my lord. Is there anything else you require?"

"Yes. I want you to increase security around the capital. Watch for signs of treachery from the Fire Council. They've been acting up."

Aang thought he noticed a look of derision on the War Minister's face for a second. Looking around, he didn't think anyone else noticed it. "As you wish, Lord Zuko. I will get to this immediately." With that, Qin bowed a third time, turned and quickly left the room.

"Well, we should have a plan in place just in case." Katara sat down on a large sitting pillow next to the window. "I don't want to know what Azula has planned, but just in case we have to find out, I want to be prepared."

"I agree. Hopefully Qin will catch her before we have to worry about it." Zuko also sat down, on a stool next to the entrance."

Aang looked to Toph. "Hey, Toph, was the War Minister being truthful with us?"

Toph shrugged. "How should I know?"

"Well, you are the human lie detector." Katara brushed some of her hair out of her face. "You've always been able to before."

"Yeah, when they're standing on stone, but I'm kinda powerless on wood floors." Toph blew her bangs up in her trademark habit. "Seriously, I know we've gone over this before."

Katara rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment. "Oh, right."

"Why do you want to know?" Sokka asked. "He seemed like a nice enough guy."

Aang looked away, not sure if he saw what he thought he saw. "No reason. Just curious. Just thinking that maybe I shouldn't be so trusting of everyone." His face fell as he made that last comment, and Katara's fell soon after.

"I hope we can. But until then, we should come up with something." Sokka scratched his head. "What we need is a trap of some kind. Something to lure her in. Like a big plate of roasted sea slug!"

The group just stared at the water tribe boy for a second. Mai broke the silence from the entrance. "I couldn't help overhearing what's going on. And if you're going to try to lure Azula out, maybe food isn't the best option. You'll need something she really feels strongly about."

Zuko didn't even hesitate. "Me. I'll be the bait."

Everyone looked a bit taken aback, even Mai. "Zuko, that's crazy. You heard what she did at the prison. What makes you think she wouldn't do that to you?" Katara stood up as she was talking. "It's too dangerous."

"No, Zuko's right." Aang stood up as well, breathing deeply as he did. "He's the only one who Azula really wants out of the way. If we decrease security around the fire palace, it would probably lure her in."

"And then spring-sprang, the trap comes down!" Sokka smiled wide as Suki pinched the bridge of her nose.

"It's too risky." Mai walked up to Zuko. "You know what she would do to you if she got the jump on you."

"She won't get the jump on me. And besides, traditional security wouldn't work against her anyway."

Katara walked up to Zuko as well. "I just don't think it's a good idea to risk your life that way. There has to be another way."

"Well, does anyone have another suggestion?" Suki sat down where Katara was just a moment ago. "Because this seems like it's the only option."

"We could go out and join the search for her with the Fire Nation troops." Mai took a knife from her sleeve. "Or maybe I could be the bait. I'm not as valuable as you are."

"What?" Zuko looked to her, surprise on his face. "How can you say that? You've been keeping this whole country together, and you've been integral in the peace talks with the Earth Kingdom!"

"And that makes me more valuable than the Fire Lord?" Mai turned her back to Zuko, facing toward the exit. "Do what you want. If you want to risk your life like this, I'm not going to have any part in it." With that, she walked out.

The group watched her leave for a moment before Katara spoke up. "Zuko, there's got to be something else we can do. Something that doesn't involve you killing yourself."

Before Zuko could say anything in protect, Aang chimed in. "I think Zuko can defeat her. He's far more powerful than he used to be, ever since meeting with The Masters, and he's very careful. He'll be okay, Katara."

Katara turned back to Aang, her brow furled again. "I didn't say Zuko can't handle himself, but everyone gets caught off guard, and I don't want it to happen to Zuko!"

"Oh, man, here we go again." Sokka quietly stood up and grabbed Suki's arm, trying to lead her out of the room before it escalated.

"Oh, so it's okay if Zuko get caught off guard, but it's my fault if I get poisoned?" Aang yelled out.

"It's not the same!" Katara threw her arms out to her sides to punctuate her point. "Zuko would be watching out for danger and just be facing a tricky opponent! You just ate what was put down in front of you without a care in the world!"

Aang's shoulders dropped, and he began to walk out of the room. Before Katara could continue, he turned his head to the side. "I don't know what happened between us, Katara, but I'm tired. I don't want to argue with you any more. I'm leaving."

"Don't walk away from this Aang! Don't run away when we need you the most! Not again!"

Aang had just stepped over the threshold of the doorway when he turned around angrily. "I'm sorry that I'm so irresponsible, that I want to enjoy myself after the weight of the whole world was put onto my shoulders, that I just want to have the love and compassion of the people closest to me. I'm sorry that was too much to ask for. I'm leaving because I need to be away from you, Katara. Don't follow me." And then Aang was gone.

Katara simply looked at the doorway for a moment before collapsing on the ground in tears. "What… what have I done?"

Zuko looked around the room for a moment and noticed he was the only other one in there. He lowered himself down and took Katara into his arms. "It's okay, Katara, he'll be back. It's okay."

"But it's not okay. It's not. A raving lunatic is out there, and I can't stop arguing with the one person who could help protect you."

"Hey." Zuko started, running a finger along her cheek, bringing her eyes to meet his. "Don't sell yourself short. You're the greatest water bender I've ever met, and I was there at the North Pole. I know what I'm talking about."

Katara managed a small smile, but continued to cry on Zuko's shoulder.

* * * * *

Fei tethered his ostrich-horse to the front gate next to the hay and walked back to his clinic. He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Reaching up to the front door, he noticed it was cracked open. He pushed it in and stepped inside, immediately turning to his left, to the counter where his wardrobe was located.

"Hello, Fei. It's good to see you again."

Fei whirled around to face the voice, his arms up in a defensive posture. The figure was cloaked in shadow. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"You don't recognize me? I'm hurt." The voice stepped out of the shadows.

Fei's arms dropped to his sides and his eyes widened in surprise. "Azula?" He noticed her hair was cropped much shorter than he remembered it, as though someone had simply grabbed her hair from behind and chopped it off. It didn't look bad, he mused. His shoulders dropped. "What are you doing here?"

Azula pouted. "Is that how you say hello to the woman you were going to marry?"

Fei turned around, turning his back to the princess. "You left me, remember? You broke my heart."

He felt a pair of arms hold him from behind. Azula pressed against Fei's back, her breath on his ear. "I know. And you were right. I made a horrible mistake. I should never have left you. You were the best thing that ever happened to me. I was a fool." Azula lightly kissed the back of his neck, moving his pony tail aside with her lips.

Fei's eyes squeezed shut and his heart clenched in his chest. "I don't see you for a year, and you chose now to come back? I can't believe that you just want to see me."

Azula released the boy and took a step back. "Fei, I used to come see you all the time. When I left you, I was confused. I felt hurt, and I took it out on you. I'm sorry."

Fei turned around. He noticed that even a year later, they were still the same height. "You just want the throne back."

"I don't care about the throne. I just want you back. Please, can you forgive me?" Azula closed the distance between them again and pressed her lips to Fei's.

Fei struggled for only a second before he melted into the kiss. His arms snaked around her back and pulled her closer. Azula opened her mouth to let him in. Fei let all of his hurt out, kissing the princess with all the passion he could muster. After what seemed like forever, the two parted. "Azula… I've… I've missed you so much…"

"I've missed you too. I want us to be together. I really, really do." She snuggled into Fei's embrace. "Can you? Can you forgive me?"

"Azula, of course I can. Do you remember what I told you?"

"You told me a lot, like that every day you don't think you can love me more, then the next day comes and proves you wrong."

"That too, but I told you that I would always love you, and that I would always be here for you. You need but ask, and I'll do whatever you want."

"Anything I want?"

"As long as you're happy with me, I'll chase the moon down for you."

"Good, because there's someone who won't let us be together."

Fei dropped Azula out of his arms. "Are you talking about Zuko, because if this really is about the throne…"

Azula stopped him with a quick kiss. "I'm not talking about Zuko. If anything, my brother saved my life. He didn't let the Avatar kill me."

Fei reeled back. "That little kid tried to kill you?"

"I wouldn't be here if it weren't for my brother. But I'm afraid that the Avatar won't stop until I 'face justice'." Azula looked away, tears forming in her eyes. "I just know there's no where I can hide from him. If he weren't an issue anymore…"

"Azula, I can't take out the Avatar. I'm not that strong, and he's the hope of the people."

"He'd be reborn again, maybe into someone a bit less bloodthirsty. If he kills me, I won't be, and we'll never be able to be together again."

"There's still the problem of me being a healer, not a warrior."

"Oh, don't worry about that. I know your secret, remember?" A smile appeared on Azula's face. "I know you can do it. I have faith in you. And once the Avatar is gone, we can be together, forever." She placed her lips back onto Fei's, kissing him with all the passion he unleashed on her.


	4. Loyalty

**Chapter 4: Loyalty**

Zuko sat at the table, bringing the fish to his lips and tasting it. Having gone through all the food stock, it was found that the poison was sprinkled on the food after preparation, away from the kitchen. The would-be assassin was still at large, but security around the kitchen and dining areas had been tripled since that incident. Zuko felt much safer. His eyes trailed over to Katara, the only other person in the room, and her completely full plate. "What's going on with you, anyway? You're barely eating, and I've never known you and Aang to fight this much. Do you want to talk about it?"

Katara's eyes narrowed as she took a drink of her tea. She slammed the cup down on the table. "He can just be so…" She stood up abruptly. "I don't know. I'm just so frustrated all the time. I just wish Aang would take things more seriously. If he'd stop playing all the time maybe these treaties would already be signed."

Zuko put down his chopsticks and looked Katara in the eye. "Katara, you know that's not true. It takes a long time to finalize all these agreements, and this is just the pre-treaty madness. It's going to take even longer when the diplomats actually arrive. There'll be disagreements and border disputes and all manner of problems. Aang has nothing to do with that. You know that.

"Doesn't he?" Katara fumed. "He's the Avatar! People listen to him, and he's just letting all this discussion go on! I just don't understand why he can't be more serious. I just wish he was…" She paused and looked away. "I just wish he was more like you, Zuko."

Zuko's eyes widened in surprise. "Katara, I know you don't mean that. You and Aang have been together since the beginning. You've always cared about him. Maybe now that the war's over, he doesn't need that anymore." He reeled back once Katara's eyes faced him again, her eyes full of hurt. "Wait, that came out wrong." He scratched his head. "What would uncle say?" Zuko sat up straight and cleared his throat. "Sometimes the bluebird gets caught in a branch. Even though it tries to get away…"

"Zuko, stop." Katara stood up and walked over to the Fire Lord. "You asked me what was wrong, and I told you. I'm glad you care about what's going on, but you don't need to try to fix my problems." She sat down next to him. "I'm just glad you care enough to try."

The two stared into each other's eyes for a moment, when quickly, Katara leaned in and kissed him. Zuko's eyes widened in surprise before he began to melt into the kiss. He had thought about what it would be like to kiss the water tribe girl, and now he knew how soft her lips were. 'Wow, she's really warm for someone from the South Pole' he thought to himself. 'I can see why Aang likes it so… AANG!' Zuko quickly broke the kiss and pushed Katara away, keeping his hands on her shoulders. He panted heavily before looking up at her. "Katara, what are you doing? We can't do this! We can't do that to Aang or Mai! Why did you kiss me?"

Tears sprang up in Katara's eyes. "I… I don't know… I just wanted Aang to be a bit more like you… and it just kind of happened… I don't know…"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY SISTER?!?" Sokka screamed from the doorway. He quickly ran into the room, jumped on the table, ran across it, and grabbed Zuko by the collar. "What are you doing!?"

"Sokka! Stop!" Katara grabbed Sokka's wrist. "It's my fault! I did it, not him!"

Sokka looked back and forth between the two. "Zuko, explain."

"Well… you see, I was trying to figure out what's happening between Katara and Aang, and… um…" Zuko scratched the back of his head, not sure how to relate the story. If he was honest with himself, he wasn't really sure what had happened either.

Katara stood up and moved in between Sokka and Zuko. "Sokka, it's my fault. I've just been so frustrated lately. It just kind of happened."

Sokka let Zuko go and looked at Katara. His features softened. He put his hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Katara, I think we need to have a talk." Katara nodded, and the two walked out of the dining area and out into the garden. Zuko watched them leave, equal parts shame and sadness on his face. The two reached the gardens quickly, and sat on a stone bench. "So, what's going on? You and Aang have been fighting non-stop since we all got back from Ba Sing Se."

Katara shook her head, a tear escaping her eye. "I don't know. I've just been so angry, all the time. Aang just keeps acting like a little kid. He never takes anything seriously."

Sokka pushed her shoulder back gently, forcing her to face him. "But you always liked that part of him. You always loved how nothing ever got his spirits seriously down. You always got so worried whenever anything really affected him. Why does it bother you now?"

"I don't know!" she screamed. She instantly recoiled. "I'm… I'm sorry Sokka. I didn't mean to yell."

The warrior took his sister into his arms. "It's okay. I know you're hurting, and I'll be here for you. Now, tell me, what would be different if Aang acted more like Zuko?" He smiled at Katara's blush. "Yeah, I kinda heard that part."

"If he took these talks more seriously, maybe they'd be done. Maybe peace would already be achieved. I mean, he is the Avatar. The world is supposed to listen to him."

Sokka thought of a few choice words to say about that statement, but chose to hold them back for the moment. Getting to the bottom of his sister's anger was more important. "Okay, what would happen if the treaties were signed and the world were at peace again?"

Katara shook her head. "I don't know! Maybe everyone could get back to the people they care about."

"Like who?"

"Toph could go back home, The Duke and Pipsqueak could find Smellerbee and Longshot…"

"Where would you go?" Sokka leaned in.

Katara looked at her brother like he had grown a second head. "I would go and see Gran Gran and dad again! How could you even ask that?"

Sokka took a deep breath. "So you miss Gran Gran?"

Her eyes narrowed. "What are you getting at? You know I miss Gran Gran! And ever since dad went back home to rebuild, I've missed him too. But they know my duty is here, helping the Avatar."

"So your duty to the Avatar is keeping you from getting home. You're homesick." Sokka knew where the rest of this conversations was going, but tried hard not to show it.

"Yes!"

"So Aang's responsible for you being homesick?"

"Ye… what, what? Of course not! Aang's doing his duty, he's doing what needs to be done! He's not responsible for me!"

Sokka brought Katara's eyes to his once again. "Katara, do you remember when Zuko first joined our group? Do you remember how angry and distrusting you were of him?"

"Of course. What does that have to do with anything?"

"Just hear me out. When he asked you what he could do to earn your trust, you told him he could bring mom back." Katara simply nodded. "You connected your anger at the Fire Nation to the only face from the Fire Nation you knew: his."

Katara opened her mouth, but quickly shut it again. She didn't want to admit it, but she knew that her brother was telling the truth. She shook her head. "Okay, what are you saying?"

"Katara, I think you're connecting your frustration and homesickness with the face of the duty everyone expects of you. You're taking out your homesickness on Aang." Katara began to open her mouth, but Sokka cut her off. "Just think about it for a second. Do you remember that time that Toph was giving you grief at Huo Penquan City? That place where she was running all those scams? She was connecting her anger at her parents at the person who was acting like a parent at the time. Just try thinking about it from the outside. Look at what you've been doing. I'm not saying that Aang's been the perfect guy either, I think he should be taking things more seriously too, and this is _me_ saying that. But one thing I've noticed is that it works a lot better if you look at what you're doing wrong rather than what the other person is doing wrong. After all, you have the power to change your actions."

Katara just stared at Sokka for a moment. She replayed the past couple of months in her head, and envisioned her interactions with Aang as though she were watching them from the outside. From this, she came to one conclusion. She had been one huge raging ball of PMS. The master water bender burst into tears. "Oh God, what have I done? How… how could I have been so stupid?"

Sokka brought his sobbing sister back into his arms. "You're not stupid, Katara. You're just in pain, and pain makes really smart people do really stupid things."

"Like kissing Zuko?"

"Or being overprotective of a girl who can totally kick my butt."

The two laughed a bit, Katara still in tears. She sniffled a bit and calmed herself down as much as she could. "So, what should I do?"

"You need to admit you were wrong. You need to apologize to Aang, and tell him everything that happened." Katara again opened her mouth as Sokka cut her off. "Yes, everything. You couldn't keep it in anyway. You'd feel guilty about that little indiscretion until Aang forgave you anyway."

Katara nodded. "Thanks Sokka. I don't know how, but you got pretty wise."

The boy shrugged. "Meh. I guess hanging out with the Avatar has fringe benefits." The two squeezed each other and let each other go. "I don't know when Aang's going to be back. He went to check some records or something at the Western Air Temple. Mai went with him."

Katara nodded and stood up. "Well, I'll make sure to have a nice welcome waiting for him. I really need to tell him how much he means to me."

"Just remember, you're not just gonna stop being homesick. Just recognize that's what it is. In any case, I'm sure Aang would let you borrow Appa to head back home for a week or two."

Katara simply shook her head. "No, he's got far too much traveling to do to be able to spare Appa. I'll just be happy that there's at least a little piece of home here."

"Mom's necklace?"

Katara hugged her brother one more time. "No, silly. You."

Sokka smiled and hugged her back. He didn't say another word, just looked after her with affection. Katara smiled back, turned back to the palace, and walked inside. Sokka looked over to the bush to his left. "So, how long have you been there, Toph?"

Toph stepped out from behind the bushes. "How did you see me there? You don't have earth bending."

"No, but I do have eyes, and the bush you're standing next to didn't completely cover you. I don't think Katara noticed though." Sokka patted the bench next to him. "Come on, it looks like you need to talk too."

"You know, some day I'm gonna be able to tell what the looks on people's faces are too." Toph blew her bangs out of her face, walked over to the bench, and sat down next to the Water tribe warrior. "Are relationships always like that?"

"Yeah, pretty much. There's always some problem to work out. No one's perfect, after all." He patted her on the shoulder. "Why do you ask?"

"I've never been in a relationship, and lately, well, I've been pretty jealous of what all you guys have. But if that's what it's like, with all that hurt feelings and drama, maybe I'm glad I'm _not_ in one."

"I won't lie to you, relationships are hard. But we're not in them because they're easy, we're in them because they're worth it. You'll find out, hopefully very soon."

"What's it like?" Toph asked, her head leaning toward Sokka. "What's it like to really be in love?"

Sokka shrugged. "I don't know how to describe it. It also really depends on whether the feelings are mutual or not. It can be the greatest feeling in the world, or the hardest thing anyone's ever had to go through."

"So, you are in love with Suki then?"

Sokka hesitated for a moment, but then realized he had been tricked into admitting something, just as he had just tricked his sister. He let out a laugh. "Yeah. I guess I am."

Toph's face remained like stone. "Do you really think I'll meet someone?"

"Of course. You have enough good karma points saved up to buy yourself a boyfriend by now. Risking your life to help Aang, going up against an entire nation for the sake of the world, those aren't small things. You'll find someone who knows how great you really are, Toph."

"I wonder if it'll be a friend…" she mused, nearly to herself.

"Probably not." Sokka explained. "Katara and Aang had eyes for each other from day one, they just didn't know it, Mai got together with Zuko because of his crazy sister, apparently, and Suki and I kissed within a day of knowing each other. Whoever you find, it'll probably be pretty sudden. You won't even see it coming. That's the way it usually works."

Toph simply nodded. "Thanks, Snoozles. I'll think about that." With that, she stood up and started to walk away. Her voice had been steady, and she hadn't shown much of any emotion during the whole exchange. To say that Sokka was concerned was an understatement.

After she was out of sight, Sokka sighed. "I guess I should have another girl talk to her or something. I just hate seeing her like that. Toph's been pretty depressed since the end of the war." He looked up to the sky, seeing the moon risen in the early evening. Even through the blue sky, it was still plainly visible. "Yue, please, watch over Toph. Help her." He lowered his head. "I know I shouldn't ask anything of you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I failed you, and I'm sorry I fell in love with someone else. I was never worthy of someone like you, just like I'm not worthy of Suki. Please, forgive me."

* * * * *

Aang searched through the large library. He gave a silent prayer of thanks to the spirits that it was deep enough inside the temple to not be damaged during Azula's attack a couple of months ago. He knew Mai was also in the temple, looking over several different scrolls and records. If they could only find some record of where other air benders might have hid, he'd be able to restore balance to the world. He shook his head. He couldn't get all the recent fights with Katara out of his head. He grabbed his head and let out a frustrated scream. "Why is this happening?"

Mai appeared from nowhere, knives at the ready. "Are you okay, Aang?"

Aang quickly looked over to the tall woman. "What? Oh, yeah. Just a bit frustrated."

"Well, it is a pretty big library." She let out a yawn. "It's not exactly the most exciting place."

"No, that's not it. It's this whole thing with Katara. She just keeps yelling at me for no reason! I can't concentrate on anything."

"Well, what are you doing to make her angry?" Mai began to put her knives away.

"I don't know! I've thought about it for the past few weeks, and I can't think of anything!" Aang fell to a sitting position on the floor.

Mai simply shook her head and sat down next to the air bender. "Yeah. Most guys are like that. They can't see what they're doing wrong. They have no idea. I guess even the mighty Avatar isn't immune to that."

"Well, what do you think I should do about it?"

"I would say you should ask Katara, but girls don't want to tell anyone what's bothering them either. I'd ask someone who knows you both really well, like that Toph girl. She'd probably be able to tell you what's going on."

"Well, what about you? Can you tell me what's going on?"

Mai looked at her nails, then went back to looking over a few documents that were lining the bookshelves. "Nope. I haven't seen anything wrong myself, but then again, I haven't really been paying attention." She took one document in particular off the shelves. "I've been a bit busy with background checks on the council members. Take a look at this."

Aang walked over to Mai and looked at the document in her hands. "That's odd. It's a record of Air Nomad non-benders."

"They existed?" Mai asked, looking as surprised as Aang had ever seen her. "I thought everyone in your nation was a bender."

"So did I. Hold on." The young air bender took the book out of the taller woman's hands. He opened it up and read a couple of pages quickly as Mai waited. "Huh. It seems that non-bending children were sent to live in Air Nomad colonies, since living on the peaks was too dangerous for non-benders. There's a list of several colonies of Air Nomad exiles."

"That's sounds a bit barbaric. Exiling someone just because they can't bend?" Mai looked bored, but sat down with a small huff.

"I don't think that's the way it was. I think that the monasteries were simply training grounds for air bending, and maybe the colonies were the permanent residences."

"Permanent residences for nomads?" Her eyebrow raised quizzically.

"I'm not sure. I remember monk Gyatso telling me about our nomadic heritage, but the temples were built because it was impossible to locate the Avatar when all of us were constantly on the move." He read over the document some more. "Let's see… there's one in the western edge of the Earth Kingdom, one near the south pole…" Aang paused, his face lighting up. "Hey, there was a colony right around Hui Dao City. I enrolled in a Fire Nation school there for a few days."

"Do you think we'll find anyone who was born with air bending there?"

"I don't know, but there's only one way to find out. I know that in other nations, bending is kind of random. It comes up in people even if neither parent can bend. After all, no one else in Katara's family can bend that I know of." Upon saying Katara's name, Aang's head dropped a bit.

Mai noticed, and stood back up. "I'm sure everything will turn out okay, Aang. You're a good guy, and she'll realize that." She leaned down and gave Aang a small hug.

Aang stood still for a second, but eventually returned the hug. Backing away, he looked Mai in the eyes. "Well, that was pretty uncharacteristic for you."

"My father told me that now that I'm in a position of authority, I need to be more personable. I figured I could use a little bit of practice. Though I was telling you the truth." She let a smile form on her face, small, but sincere. "So, do you wan to go to Hui Dao City?"

Aang shook his head. "I think we should get this information to Zuko. I know he's almost as anxious as I am to restore the Air Nomad culture as I am. And I'm sure you want to get out of this 'dusty old library' and get back to him yourself." Mai simply smiled wryly at his statement.

(A/N: Sorry for the little bit of Zutara, I promise that's the end of that. Review.)


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